EFEITO DE ATRIBUTOS ASSOCIADOS AO TRABALHO SOBRE A EFICIÊNCIA DA INSENSIBILIZAÇÃO NO ABATE DE BOVINOS

Brazil is the largest beef exporter and second largest producer of cattle in the world. Despite this position there are several questions regarding some aspects, including ethical issues such as the realization of humane slaughter of animals. This research aimed to investigate the effect of labor attributes on the efficiency of cattle stunning. The data were collected from a large slaughterhouse through the monitoring of a worker at the time of firing the air gun. Examinations were performed in stunned animals. A logistic regression model and two linear regression ones were estimated on a sample of 2,150 animals. It was observed that the variables that represent the driving distance of the shot over the recommended location and pressure of the stunning gun have significant effect on the likelihood that the animal is effectively numb. The time of the sequential shift of the person who performed the stun had no significant effect on the likelihood of desensitization. The number of shots, performed in a same animal was not significantly influenced by the distance of first shot in relation to target, nor by hours of sequential work. The time sequential shift the insensibilizador also showed no statistically significant influence on the distance from the first shot done.